As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,191,435; 3,231,096; 2,646,891; and 4,303,283, the prior art is replete with myriad and diverse storage systems which employ circular or elliptical transport of a plurality of storage racks about one or more axis to increase efficiency of a storage device.
While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than adequate from the standpoint of fulfilling the basic function for which they were designed, these earlier constructions fall far short of providing an ideal storage arrangement wherein both flexibility and convenience are incorporated into the basic design of the apparatus.
Almost universally lacking from the design of prior art constructions is a provision for the adequate separation and selective displacement of individual containers for discrete articles within the storage apparatus; wherein, the user may physically disengage the discrete article carrier from the storage cabinet and then selectively replace the article carrier on the interior support means of the cabinet.
As can readily be seen by reference to the above cited patents, the use of elongated permanently installed trays as storage means for items in a rotary storage cabinet is a well recognized expedient in the prior art; however, this method is very inconvenient for storing a variety of small items, not to mention the fact that only limited numbers of the discrete articles can be removed at a given time. In addition in such arrangement, the plurality of integrally formed compartments on each of the plurality of trays creates problems since the forward tray elements and their contents oftentimes will obscure the contents of the trailing trays.
Another problem with the prior art tray constructions is their inherent bulk and weight, which naturally makes the storage cabinet difficult to transport from one location to another.
Clearly what has been lacking is a system of a rotary support means that will accommodate conveniently sized individual storage units into which similar items may be grouped, thereby facilitating the access to the individual containers and simplifying the transportation of the storage cabinet as a whole. The provision of such an apparatus is the basis of the present invention.